“Not afraid of crying ghosts, only afraid of howling dogs”, what does this sentence mean?

“Ghosts” are fictional things, fear of ghosts is only psychological effects. There are no ghosts in the world, so in reality there will be no “crying ghosts”. If you hear some natural sounds or sounds that are not clear, you may be afraid at first, but you will get used to it, and there is nothing to be afraid of. The howling of a dog is different, it is a real threat and danger.

What’s scary about howling dogs?

Some animals are especially sensitive to natural disasters, such as before an earthquake, snakes, dogs, frogs, etc. have abnormal behaviors. An example most familiar to rural people is the ant moving house, when heavy rain and flood are about to rise, the ants can sense first and move from a low place to a high place to avoid being flooded.

In the past, indigenous dogs were raised by rural families, animals that are very sensitive to natural disasters. Dogs howl when floods and landslides are imminent.

It is recorded that, on May 28, 2008, in Chongkoupu, a small village with more than ten households in Chajiang Village, Guanxia Miao Town, Suining County, Hunan, it rained heavily. In the middle of the night, the dog suddenly howled loudly. The owner saw the dog howling abnormally, so he got up and ran out to check when the dog rushed in and pulled him in. The owner, after calming down, noticed a humming noise on the hill behind the village, and immediately woke everyone to evacuate. When people in the village just ran to a high place, the mountain behind the village collapsed, the ground cracked, the mud swept away the whole village in a moment. The howling of the village dogs has saved dozens of lives.

Previously, in addition to flash floods, landslides, earthquakes, people in rural areas also faced the threat of wild animals.

Wild animals such as tigers, bears, snakes… especially tigers often break into cattle and poultry stables to catch thieves, even when they meet people they also pounce on people. Rural dogs have a sharp sense of smell, when this animal comes close to the house, it can smell it, because the dogs are not “rivals”, so they are very scared, howling loudly. When the owner hears the dog howling, they immediately raise their vigilance, light a fire in the yard, use torches, gongs, and drums to scare away wild animals.

Therefore, howling dogs are sometimes used to inform people and make people more alert, so the ancients have a saying that “Not afraid of crying ghosts, only afraid of howling dogs”.